Carlos Miller is founder and publisher of Photography is Not a Crime, which began as a one-man blog in 2007 to document his trial after he was arrested for photographing police during a journalistic assignment.
He is also the author of The Citizen Journalist's Photography Handbook, which can be purchased through Amazon.

71-year-old man ordered to stop photographing car in UK shopping mall

April 4, 2010

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Hugh Cleverley, who apparently is such a well-known character in the United Kingdom that his name inspires its own headline, was photographing the new Chevrolet Spark supermini in a shopping mall when he was accosted by two security guards.

Obviously, the 71-year-old man’s name who retired from the Hampshire Constabulary, which is described as a “territorial police force,” did not carry enough clout to tell the guards to piss off.

Cleverley said he is a fan of “cars and motobikes” so he was really looking forward to taking photos of the Chevy Spark, according to the Southern Daily Echo,

which ran the headline “Hugh Cleverley Prevented From Photographing New Chevrolet Spark in Eastleigh.”

“But suddenly there were these two men in black suits telling me I had to stop. I couldn’t believe it.

“As my wife said, you would think the place was a secret rocket site the way they acted. I was very angry because it was so narrow minded of them and very over the top.

“A little bit of common sense would have told them I was causing no harm, it was just a car.”

Centre manager Dee Buffone said that if people wanted to take photos they could ask the management team for permission.

He added: “This policy has been adopted to protect members of the public from being photographed without their consent.”